So Andrew Bolt (yeah I know) called the Stolen Generation a myth.
Now I am not an Indigenous Australian, I am a white middle class Aussie however I too belong to that same mythalogical group called stolen. I was placed into foster care as a 2 year old by the courts because my father left after saying he was gay and my mum was only 19. They told her she either moves back with her husband or they take me off her. She told them that she can’t move back because he won’t take her because he is gay. The courts declared that he couldn’t be gay as it isn’t allowed and forcibly removed me to foster care then signed off on me being adopted by a different family (who were good people btw).
Now I am not claiming that my situation is as bad as that of the black community, it isn’t, culturally theirs was far, far worse, but to claim it didn’t happen is pathetic and simply factually incorrect.
It is not a myth Andrew it is for real, it happened to Indigenous Australians and it also happened to white Australians. Grow up Andrew, learn your history, get out of your white pearl tower and go and spend time with those affected by this crap that happened.
I watched the news on TV tonight, first for a long time and realised how little ‘news’ is actually presented these days. Lots of opinions but very little news.
I only hear about the odd thing he says when someone brings it up on blitz.
It’s a fair point and an interesting perspective you share Ice Temple. I would say there are politicians on record as suggesting pure blood indigenous were lost to civilization but mix bloods could be taken and bred into white society which suggests a particularly racist motivation but that is probably a part of a larger social issue that included the children of single mothers. A general judgment of anyone different and an attempt to eugenicise “problem” cases out of society through adoption and breeding into non-deviant mainstream population.
■■■■ Bolt though. He’s only relevant as a ward against people who reference his opinions favorably.
There were probably lots of cases when neither side would accept the kid, but that doesn’t excuse the forcible taking of kids against the parents’ will.
To be fair, he has constantly asked for 10 examples and nobody has ever provided the names to him.
His definition of ‘stolen’ also differs from others. He defines ‘stolen’ as being taken for no reason whereas others define ‘stolen’ as being removed from a family regardless of the circumstances.
In IT’s example, Bolt would not define that as ‘stolen’.
To be fair, he has constantly asked for 10 examples and nobody has ever provided the names to him.
Except for the list of 260 names that Robert Manne provided years ago and which Bolt turns linguistic and logical cartwheels to avoid acknowledging, of course. And of course his carefully chosen demand of ‘individual names’ allows him to avoid confronting issues like where the administrators of the laws at the time said stuff like “the halfcaste policy in this Territory embraces the collection of all illegitimate halfcastes, male and female under the age of 16 years, for housing in institutions for educational purposes”, or the testimony of the people who were actually required to carry out the removals of kids but might not have known of the names of individuals at the time.
Reminds me a bit of the holocaust deniers who mendaciously demand evidence of a single written order from Hitler, or point at the isolated example of someone who was thought gassed by their relatives until they were discovered many years later in another country, and use these as evidence that the whole thing was a myth, while ignoring the huge body of evidence from every other source.
And yes, call me Godwin, but I used the Holocaust example intentionally. There WAS a Holocaust of indigenous people in Australia after the white man arrived, and the sooner we all face up to it the better. Sure, smallpox and measles were probably the biggest killers, but there was deliberate, organised, systematic, unpunished murder on a regular basis for a very long time too, not to mention the dispossession, ethnic cleansing, isolation in camps, destruction of language and culture, and removal of children.
And on a more personal note, one of the people Bolt was found guilty of illegally racially vilifying a few years back was a friend of mine. He was telling prejudiced lies then like he is now, and the quality of the national discourse would be markedly improved by his spontaneous combustion.
To be fair, he has constantly asked for 10 examples and nobody has ever provided the names to him.
His definition of ‘stolen’ also differs from others. He defines ‘stolen’ as being taken for no reason whereas others define ‘stolen’ as being removed from a family regardless of the circumstances.
In IT’s example, Bolt would not define that as ‘stolen’.
Plus to be fair he’s trying to sell hurtful lies and propaganda so of course some of the stuff he’s saying is gonna ruffle feathers.
He’s so maligned, misunderstood and persecuted. Pity he has nowhere to vent his opinion other than a national tv show and in the most widely sold papers.
What proportion of aboriginal children were “stolen” not due to a racist government sanctioned ideology hell bent on breeding them out, but due to neglect and dangerous living circumstances?
What proportion of aboriginal children nowadays are being left to live in squalor with parents suffering from addiction and other mental/social disorders because authorities are too scared to remove them for fear of being labelled racist? Does a similar standard of care apply to neglected white children as it does to black?
What proportion of aboriginal children were "stolen" not due to a racist government sanctioned ideology hell bent on breeding them out, but due to neglect and dangerous living circumstances?
None.
As you would know if you’d bothered to read what I posted, the policy was to ‘remove’ ALL illegitimate halfcastes (I think at different times/places similar policies were in place with respect to kids with different degrees of indigenous descent and/or legitimacy). Blanket removal Every kid. Living circumstances were not evaluated and didn’t enter into it. If some were removed from poor living conditions, it was more due to pure luck than judgement.
One can also ask “what proportion of aboriginal children were stolen from perfectly ok living circumstances and deposited into religious schools or orphanages where sexual and physical abuse were endemic?” but I notice you don’t mention that possibility.
What proportion of aboriginal children nowadays are being left to live in squalor with parents suffering from addiction and other mental/social disorders because authorities are too scared to remove them for fear of being labelled racist? Does a similar standard of care apply to neglected white children as it does to black?
Do your own research and quote some numbers and evidence to back up your insinuations before spitting it out here maybe?
Aren’t they just closing down the communities instead now anyway?
Imagine being told you can’t have the one thing that you have a ‘spiritual’ bond to. Would imagine that would fark with your psyche a bit. And the. Move to some place where you have no support network or sufficient services.
To be fair, he has constantly asked for 10 examples and nobody has ever provided the names to him.
His definition of ‘stolen’ also differs from others. He defines ‘stolen’ as being taken for no reason whereas others define ‘stolen’ as being removed from a family regardless of the circumstances.
In IT’s example, Bolt would not define that as ‘stolen’.
Why does any premise, proposition, fact or fiction have to be paraded in front of the racist Bolt for his approval or disapproval? He is a nobody.
To be fair, he has constantly asked for 10 examples and nobody has ever provided the names to him.
His definition of ‘stolen’ also differs from others. He defines ‘stolen’ as being taken for no reason whereas others define ‘stolen’ as being removed from a family regardless of the circumstances.
In IT’s example, Bolt would not define that as ‘stolen’.
Why does any premise, proposition, fact or fiction have to be paraded in front of the racist Bolt for his approval or disapproval? He is a nobody.
He is not a nobody, people actually read and listen to him